The Second Coming
by Liz Skywalker
Summary: A new hacker crewmember comes onto the Neb.


TITLE: The Second Coming (working title)  
  
AUTHOR: Liz Skywalker  
  
AUTHOR E-MAIL: lizskywalker@hotmail.com  
  
DISCLAIMER: I don't own any of this.  
  
SUMMERY: A new hacker crewmember comes aboard the Neb. Part One/? completed.  
  
A/N: This is the first in-progress story I've written. Please bear with me.  
  
  
Neo ran. Tank had said that there was a phone three blocks down, but those   
three blocks were nearly 20 seconds away and the agents were mere seconds behind   
him. Two blocks left. Neo increased his speed but the agents were matching him   
stride by stride. It seemed that he would have to erase at least one of them.   
Neo didn't want to do that. The plan dictated that he use his gift as sparingly   
as possible so the agents would not be able to get a true grasp of what the One   
was capable of. The rebels were to wait until Neo had found his limits and knew   
what he could and what he could not do. Then they would strike, erase all the   
agents, and work on freeing the world.  
  
There. The phone was dead ahead. Neo reached it and was about to take it   
off the cradle when he saw one of the agents pull a gun. Neo blinked twice   
quickly and suddenly he was seeing the code of the Matrix. He erased one of the   
agents and, while the other agents paused for a half-second, picked up the phone   
and asked Tank to pull him out.  
  
Neo stood up and Trinity handed him a glass of water. "What did you find   
out?" She asked.  
  
"The agents are learning. Instead of sending two or three like they used   
to, they're now sending packs of them to every spot where they think we'll be.   
They know I can erase one or two at a time, but they don't yet know how many   
agents I can erase at one time."  
  
Trinity nodded. "We still have to go over that. Even we don't know how   
many you can get."  
  
"And I didn't want to tip our hand, so I only got one this time."  
  
Trinity paused. "You took a chance, you know."  
  
Neo could see the worry in her eyes. "Yes, I know. But I didn't know if   
Tank could pull me out before that agent shot at me.  
  
"I did notice something different," Neo continued. "The agents are faster   
now. I was going at my normal pace and they matched me."  
  
"They are machines," Trinity reminded him. "They can probably be   
reprogrammed. But this faster thing could be dangerous for those of us without   
your girl. We're going to need help counter-acting this."  
  
Neo walked around to the screens displaying different parts of the Matrix.   
"I think I have just the person."  
  
"That kid we're watching?"  
  
"Yes. He's hacked into lots of things, perhaps he can hack into the agent   
programming. I can erase them, or different parts of them, but I don't think I   
could change the programming while facing any one of them."  
  
"Then we'll step up the watching. You think he's ready?"  
  
"He's close. But I think the agents may be watching him also. If they   
move, we'll have to counter quickly."  
  
"So you think we should act soon?"  
  
"I think we should talk to Morpheus."  
  
Trinity moved towards the exit. "I'll go get him."  
  
"No need." A deep voice said from behind her. "Who is this kid?"  
  
"He calls himself 'The Second Coming'. It's shortened to '2C', pronounced   
2, as in the number, and then C, as in another word for ocean. His 'real' name   
is Larry Kyle Cater. He's a very good hacker, but he doesn't know how good he   
really is. He's been doing mainly copycat jobs. Recently, he hacked into the IRS   
main frame and played around with it, and then messed with the d-base."  
  
"Copying me." Trinity added in.  
  
"And then before that, he copied something I pulled and hacked into the   
White House servers and wrote a message just to show that he could hack in. Left   
no trail either. Very good hack."  
  
"Anything else?"  
  
"Nothing of importance."  
  
"He lives in the 'Philadelphia' area, alone." Tank took up his seat overlooking the Matrix. "College student but never shows. He's home right now and his computer's on." Tank looked at the screen again. "He's doing a search on...guess."  
  
"Morpheus." Morpheus answered dryly.  
  
Tank grinned. "You got it. He's cross-referencing it with Trinity and he's   
running a separate search on Neo." Lines of code suddenly appeared on the screen   
and Tank read them over quickly. "Uh oh."  
  
"What is it?" Morpheus asked.  
  
Neo looked over Tank's shoulder. "Seems the agents are doing their own   
little looking in on our friend."  
  
"What sort of looking?" Trinity walked over to her chair, ready to be   
plugged in if need be.  
  
"They're checking up on everything he's been doing. Worse, they just   
tagged him."  
  
Morpheus' head snapped up. "Neo, are you ready to go back into the   
Matrix?"  
  
"Yeah. You want me to contact the kid?"  
  
"Yes. We'll put you and Trinity down near him and you will contact him via   
computer screen like Trinity did for you. Warn him about the agents. If you   
think he's ready, call me down and we'll do it right then. Tank?"  
  
"And, they're in."  
  
"Good."  
  
  
Twosee scanned the latest news article. Morpheus had been spotted on a   
Chicago street. As usual, there was a phrase attributed to him. This time it was   
"The Matrix has you all." Whatever that meant. And what was this Matrix? It was   
driving him crazy. All searches on 'matrix' gave only articles on Morpheus,   
Trinity, and lately, Neo. A mysterious leader and two hacking legends. What was   
the connection?  
  
His screen suddenly went blank. Green letters began appearing one by one.   
"Hello 2C." He read. "The Matrix has you." The Matrix! Twosee typed quickly   
'what is the Matrix?' but it didn't show up on the screen. "They are watching   
you, 2C. You must be careful." They? Who were 'they'? "Pick up the phone." The   
green letters disappeared and the searches were back. Twosee began to relax. His   
phone rang suddenly.   
  
"Hello?" He asked.  
  
"Hello, 2C. Do you know who this is?" The voice was male and young.  
  
"Morpheus." Twosee breathed. Oh my god.  
  
"Yes. We need to meet, 2C."  
  
"Where? When?" Shit, he was ready right now.  
  
"10 minutes, right outside." The phone went dead in his hand and Twosee   
began to throw some clothes on.   
  
Ten minutes later, the young hacker stood outside the building. A car   
drove up and the door opened. "Get in."  
  
Twosee got in. He was sitting next to a pretty woman with dark hair.   
"Hello, 2C," she started. "I am Trinity."  
  
Twosee was at a lost for words. "Trinity? THE Trinity? Oh, god."  
  
"What's wrong with that?" The guy sitting to the right of the driver   
asked.  
  
"Nothing, it's just that..." Twosee turned to Trinity. "You're my hero."  
  
She appeared more amused than angry. "The Second Coming. I think I   
understand your name now."  
  
Twosee blushed. "Yep, I wanted to be the second coming of Trinity."  
  
"You've surpassed me. You can hack much better than I can."  
  
Twosee was saved having to answer that by the car coming to stop in front   
of an old warehouse. The driver turned. "You have to understand something. If we   
didn't think that you could do what you are going to be asked to do, we would   
not have brought you here this early. Remember that."  
  
Twosee nodded and got out of the car. Behind him, Trinity looked to the   
driver. "Why did you add that, Novindus?"  
  
Novindus smiled slightly. "Someone told me that when I had to choose and   
it helped me a lot. Maybe it will help this kid also."  
  
The group of four walked up the stairs. Novindus and the other guy went   
straight into another room while Trinity walked some more with Twosee. The door   
opened and Twosee could see a tall dark-skinned man. The Man walked forward to   
meet Twosee and Trinity halfway. Trinity smiled at Twosee and left through   
another door.   
  
"Hello 2C." The man said. "I am Morpheus. We've been watching you, 2C."  
  
"Who? Who's been watching me?"  
  
Morpheus didn't answer. Instead he motioned Twosee to sit down. "You have   
a choice, 2C. We know that this life does not excite you and you find your   
talents put to waste. You can come with us," Morpheus showed Twosee a red pill,   
"and leave this place. But remember, you can never come back. Once you start   
down this path, you can't leave it. Or you can take this pill," Morpheus took   
out a blue pill, "and you'll wake up in your bed, wondering why you had such a   
strange dream. What'll it be, 2C?"  
  
Twosee hesitated and then reached for the red pill. Morpheus' voice   
interrupted him. "Remember, no turning back." He nodded and then swallowed the   
red pill. "Good. Come with me." Morpheus led Twosee into a strange room and made   
him sit down. Trinity, Novindus, and the other man were working frantically on   
different machines but Twosee felt strongly disconnected from them, almost as if   
he was on a different plane of reality. Then something strange caught his eyes.   
The mirror was liquefying. He touched it and before long, it had consumed him.  
  
Twosee 'awoke' and gasped for air. He felt plugs attached to him and he   
pulled them quickly. He felt so weak, like he had just been born. A machine flew   
right in front of him and suddenly Twosee was floating backwards. He hit the   
bottom of the slide and cringed as another machine tried to grab him. Then he   
blacked out.  
  
  
End Part One.  



End file.
